


Tell Me Your Name, I Need To Know

by Trashcanakin



Series: Trash's 2019 Bingo fills [12]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Anti Team Cap, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Bucky Barnes is a smug little shit, But not terrible either, Don't copy to another site, Flirting, M/M, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, anonymous sender, friday is a goddamn treat y'all, ish, secret caregiver, shenanikans, shows them in a bad light I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-10 15:10:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19907770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trashcanakin/pseuds/Trashcanakin
Summary: Tony is overworked and underappreciated, always pushing his limits and not taking care of himself well; but someone decides to take care of Tony for a change.Tony just wishes he knew who it was.





	Tell Me Your Name, I Need To Know

**Author's Note:**

> Made for Winteriron Week Day 1, filling the prompts: "Secret Caregiver" & "Are we really gonna do this here?" 
> 
> \---
> 
> This also stands as fills for TSB2: A3 - FREE / BBB: Y4 - Protectiveness / WIB: B1 - Secret Reveal
> 
> \---
> 
> Alternate titles that didn't make the cut: 
> 
> \- Love In Script, Not Word Of Mouth  
> \- How Will I Thank You If I Don't Know Who You Are?  
> \- Casper The Flirty Ghost (via rae in the WI server)  
> \- Tony Stark, Ghostbuster (via journeythroughtherain, addin' it 'cause it's hilarious)

⤜⤑⤑⋆✩❂✩⋆⬸⬸⤛

Tony was leaving his lab after a much too long work binge, walking sluggishly towards the door. FRIDAY had finally convinced him that sleep would be a good idea. He didn't _really_ agree, he could go for at _least_ ten more hours, he thought; but he humored her anyways.

Upon his way out, his steps faltered.

"Fri, what's this?" Tony questioned, picking up the note that was taped to the door.

"Not sure, boss. Someone must have left it for you," she replied.

"Don't forget to eat," Tony read it aloud. "Uhm...okay?" He squinted at the note.

"Eating sounds like a good plan to me, too, boss," FRIDAY mentioned.

Tony managed to scarf down a sandwich before falling into bed.

⤜⤑⤑⋆✩❂✩⋆⬸⬸⤛

The mission was stressful. Tony got beat up pretty bad, and he wasn't the only one. Natasha hit her head pretty hard, Clint wound up with a fractured wrist, and Sam fell after his wings were damaged; luckily he came out of it with only a few bumps and bruises, but it shook everyone.

Tony, though…

He had many cuts, scrapes, bruises...you name it. Nothing broken, but regardless of that, he refused to go to the med bay. He had too much work to do and wanted to start analyzing the substance they found as soon as possible; doctors could wait. But the team knew Tony wouldn't go. He never really did.

Tony needed coffee, so started for the door; his supply in the lab was terribly empty. Waltzing out, he nearly tripped over something laying on the floor.

It was a box with a note attached.

"Take care of yourself," it said.

Tony opened the box and huffed a laugh. It was a med kit.

"Okay, whoever you are, I get the picture," he said with a confused, yet fond smile. He wasn't sure who this person was, but knowing someone was trying to look out for him was...nice.

"Fri, baby girl, mind telling me who's leaving these notes for me?" he asked.

Her hesitation made his brow cock. "It's a secret, boss," she responded, sounding the slightest bit ashamed. FRIDAY didn't want to lie to her creator, much less keep secrets, but she'd made a promise; and Tony _did_ want her to develop a sense of self and grow, after all.

"Okay…" came Tony's reply, face scrunching up.

⤜⤑⤑⋆✩❂✩⋆⬸⬸⤛

Tony had been in the lab for nearly twelve hours before he was called away for a Stark Industries emergency; he wasn't going to deny Pepper anything, she already did so much for him. Their relationship may be over now, they just couldn't find a solid middle ground, but they still deeply cared for one another; even if it was a little awkward at times seeing her.

That took a lot longer than Tony had planned, but it was fine. Whomever his secret caretaker was must have known that Tony had no plans for resting that night, because when he'd arrived back at the lab for countless hours of more work, there was a carafe of coffee sitting there waiting for him. It was still piping hot, Tony must have just missed them.

He picked up the carafe and read the attached note. "Thought you might need this," it said.

Tony chuckled and muttered to himself, "More than you know, Casper."

"Still not going to tell me who's leaving this stuff, Fri?" he asked already knowing the answer.

This was about the fifteenth time something had been left for him. Always something useful with a note reminding him to take care of himself or just a nice comment. Tony really wanted to know who was leaving them. At first, he didn't really put much thought into it, but they just kept coming. It made him smile and feel warm inside, but the fact he didn't know who it was did grate on him a little. He was pretty positive it wasn't any of the rogues…

Yeah, sure they were all back together now, a team again; but he wouldn't exactly call them family anymore. He could cross Pepper and Rhodey off the list; Pepper was too busy and didn't live in the Tower anymore, so there'd be no way she could leave all these things, and Rhodey, well, he would just tell Tony things to his face, no secrets needed. Happy was busy watching after Pepper, and Peter wasn't around enough; and Tony would have to have words with him and May if Peter was sneaking around late at night and skipping school just to leave him gifts and notes. Hope isn't really the type for that, and Carol...if Carol knew Tony wasn't keeping himself well, she'd bust the door down and just kick his ass; so she's out too.

His list of potential Unknowns was dwindling…

Tony's best guess was Natasha. They'd been pretty close before the whole _Civil War_ fiasco, and after...they'd grown apart. But he knew she still cared for him, he just wasn't sure he was ready to let her get that close again; not yet.

So it _could_ be Nat. She had the means and the skill to be that sneaky. Only, without more solid evidence, he wouldn't make that his final decision.

There's also FRIDAY to take into account. She wasn't very _fond_ of "Team Cap" or Natasha these days. She wouldn't refuse them help, and always answered their questions as she was programmed to do; but she always spoke rather blunt to them, tone clipped. She was a good girl, never refused to do her duty, but that didn't mean she couldn't do it with added Stark sass. Tony was so proud of her.

But yeah, FRIDAY was the wild card.

Because whoever was doing this had to have gotten into FRIDAY's good books, as she was keeping their identity secret for them; and Tony doubted it was any of the rogues.

He's have to keep digging.

Maybe he should make a chart.

⤜⤑⤑⋆✩❂✩⋆⬸⬸⤛

This went on for two months. Two wholeass months of Tony trying desperately to figure out who this secret person was.

He plopped himself down in a chair, dragging his hands down his face in annoyance. Sighing dramatically, he tried asking once more, hoping FRIDAY would be a peach and just give in, finally relieving him of his struggles. He was supposed to be a genius! Yet he couldn't even figure out who the person was leaving him with warm fuzzies.

"Sorry boss, but I can't say," she said.

"Thought so," he replied, scowling in the direction of one of her cameras, though she knew he wasn't actually angry; just putting on a good act.

"The new privacy protocols you set up have my non-physical hands tied," she snarked.

 _Wait_.

 _New privacy protocols?_ Tony thought, shooting up in his chair. He stared off into the distance, face scrunched up in contemplation. _I only set up new protocols in the tower when the others came back for…_

_Barnes._

"Oh my God," Tony muttered to no one.

He couldn't believe he even thought that. There's _no way_ it could be _Barnes_.

Hell, aside from fixing the man's arm once or twice and two, maybe three, _very awkward_ and short conversations, Tony hadn't even seen the man! He doesn't want to sound petty at all, but he couldn't lie and say he _wasn't_ avoiding the former assassin like the plague.

He didn't hate Barnes, but ...he kind of hated Barnes. Tony knew it wasn't the man's fault, not really, and he didn't blame Barnes for his parents anymore, didn't blame him for Steve's actions; but he still wanted nothing to do with him.

After reading through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s file on the Winter Soldier, Tony had felt sick for hours, nearly puked twice. Tony knew he was...soft, and he also knew he would forgive the man in a heartbeat if it came up...but he didn't _want_ that.

He wanted to ignore it. Wanted to avoid all of it. Wanted to not bother with forgiveness and apologies, or dealing with _Steve_.

Steve was...protective, probably _too much_ over his best friend blast from the past; and Tony didn't want to even come close to the lid on that can of worms. He'd had enough already.

_"Tony, it wasn't him." "Tony, be nice." "Tony, you're being unreasonable." "Tony, Buck is my best friend, don't hurt him or we'll have bigger problems." "Tony, blah blah blah."_

Yeah, he'd heard enough.

Even _if_ Tony wanted to bond with the ghost of America's past, Steve would always be a problem. What with his mother henning and watchful eye…

Steve was entirely a friendship cock-block and honestly, it was giving Tony whiplash what with the "I want you to try harder to make amends with him," followed up with, "Leave him alone."

What was Tony even supposed to do with that?

Yeah, no thank you.

But enough pondering; back to the real issue at hand.

 _Barnes_ was the anonymous sender, he had to be. The more Tony thought about it, the more it made sense.

The question is... _why_?

Barnes showed no interest in Tony at all. Never initiated conversation, never sought him out, never appeared to care at all what Tony was doing. So why?

That...that part didn't make sense.

He had to rethink on everything that went down since the rogues came back seven months ago.

⤜⤑⤑⋆✩❂✩⋆⬸⬸⤛

The first time Tony brought Barnes to the lab, the man looked like he was ready to vibrate out of his flesh, he was anxious, like a caged animal, skin clammy and covered in a thin line of sweat; but after only a few minutes being there, he seemed to completely relax. He looked astonished at everything around him, almost happy, even though Tony knew he was still nervous.

He didn't like people working on his arm.

Tony could understand that.

Bucky had looked as though he wanted to ask something, but Steve stormed in looking vexed, griping about, "Why didn't you wait for me, Buck?" and, "I just want to make sure you're safe and comfortable down here." Bucky closed off after that, sat still, face looking vacant of emotion, save for the slight smidge of _something_.

If Tony had to guess, he'd say the man looked uncomfortable. He thought it was because of _himself_ , but after more thought, Tony isn't so sure anymore.

 _Curious_ , Tony thought to himself.

_Wait, when did I mentally change his name to Bucky?_

_Shit._

⤜⤑⤑⋆✩❂✩⋆⬸⬸⤛

The second time Tony ran into Bucky had been an accident. They just came back from a mission, and Tony was storming off down the hall because Steve had been bickering at him about something that went wrong. Tony, Wanda, and Clint all messed up, he will admit to that, but Steve had only scolded _Tony_ for it; and to be honest, he was tired, and angry, and didn't want to deal with Captain Furrow Brow's favouritism.

So he sped away, not really watching where he was going and muttering curses under his breath.

He crashed right into Bucky, who for some reason was just _standing there!_ Didn't he know Tony had places to be? Why didn't he move?!

Okay Tony, calm down, it isn't his fault you're on a rampage right now.

"Sorry, Barnes...didn't see you there," he offered, sidestepping and heading off again.

"S'alright, probably pretty hard to see through all that boiling fury," Bucky called, just loud enough for Tony to hear.

Tony simply turned a glare on him, brows creased and eyes squinted, before plodding off.

Tony had _thought_ Bucky was ridiculing him, offhandedly saying he didn't have a reason to be irritated; because of _course_ he would.

But after further analysis, he realized Bucky had been making a joke.

He _sassed_ him! The audacity.

If Tony had been looking, he would have noticed Bucky's grin when he said those words. Bucky huffed a small laugh as Tony stomped off.

If looks could kill like daggers cut, Bucky knew he'd still be alive.

⤜⤑⤑⋆✩❂✩⋆⬸⬸⤛

The third time they came into contact with each other, missions not included, was a second arm maintenance session.

Steve came down with Bucky to "monitor" how everything went, and neither Bucky, nor Tony, had hardly said anything.

But Bucky didn't seem nervous at all like he had the first time.

Nothing much to analyze there.

⤜⤑⤑⋆✩❂✩⋆⬸⬸⤛

The fourth time, Tony only half remembers. He'd been working himself to the bone trying to get all the upgrades and R&D stuff finished, wasn't even sure how long he'd been awake, but he wanted coffee. Making a beeline for the kitchen around three in the morning, he hesitated at the door. Bucky was sitting at the table looking like Hell warmed over, staring silently out the window. He looked _dreadful_.

They awkwardly greeted each other, but Bucky wasn't up for much talking and Tony was manic and sleep deprived.

He remembers making the man a hot cocoa, topped off with about a hundred marshmallows, saying something along the lines of, "Sugar is good for the soul, Buckercup," and fleeing the scene.

_Well...that's embarrassing._

⤜⤑⤑⋆✩❂✩⋆⬸⬸⤛

Okay, so maybe Tony had it wrong. Maybe Bucky _didn't_ hate him. He definitely _didn't_ hate Bucky.

But still!

Two months of leaving Tony sweet nothings, causing his bum ticker to flutter and making him giddy like a child with their first crush, who does that?!

Bucky should have just came to him himself.

He needed to confront the man, stat!

⤜⤑⤑⋆✩❂✩⋆⬸⬸⤛

Tony burst into the common room, pointing a finger at Bucky and shouting, "YOU!"

"Me?" Bucky deadpanned, pointing at himself for emphasis.

"Yes _you_ , Casper!"

Bucky had the audacity to smirk at him, "What about me, sugar?"

 _How dare he!_ How dare he use adorable endearments when referring to Tony, with his big dumb, attractive face.

 _Illegal_.

And exactly _when_ did Tony start thinking of Bucky like _that_? He'd like to ignore it, thank you very much.

"Tony, calm down. What's this about?" Steve piped up, looking nearly ready to pounce if he needed to intervene.

"Don't tell me to calm down, Rogers!" he huffed.

"Tony, really; Bucky didn't do anything, and I won't have you blaming him for things he didn't do!" he said sternly, lips in a thin line.

"It's fine, Stevie," Bucky told the blond, trying to ease the tension. "Are we really gonna do this here?" he asked, glancing back toward Tony.

"Buck, you don't have to do this," Steve plead, side eyeing Tony with a firm glare. "There doesn't need to be a fight."

Bucky scoffed; if his eyes rolled any harder, they'd have fallen out and fucked off.

"I'm serious, Buck. I don't know what's going on between you two, but we can figure it out."

"You want to know?!" Tony shouted, hoping to the Gods the warmth he felt on his face wasn't a blush creeping its way up. "He! Has been leaving me things, all the time, for _months_. Don't look at me like that, Barnes; I know it was you!" he screeched, crossing his arms and huffing.

Tony was shooting for a scowl, but it ended up more a flustered pout that Bucky found much too endearing. He smiled playfully, eyes twinkling with mischief.

"I guess the cat's outta the bag, huh?" he smirked.

The room was silent, everyone was gaping at the scene playing out before them, anxious and unsure what exactly was happening. Steve and Natasha nearly looked ready for a fight; Steve undoubtedly to protect Bucky and Natasha to keep the peace, Wanda and Clint almost looked like they _wanted_ a fight, and Sam...well he was smirking, looking way too smug, shoveling popcorn into his mouth.

_That bastard must have been in on it._

"Why?" Tony inquired, arching a brow at Bucky, holding his gaze.

"Well, someone hasta take care of ya...no offence, sugar, but you suck at it," he stated with a grin.

Tony squawked in response, air huffing out in a deep breath. He marched over to the couch, grabbed a throw pillow, and chucked it at Bucky's head.

Bucky could have moved, but he just let it hit him. When the pillow fell, it gave way to the shit eating grin plastered on Bucky's face.

"Why sugar?" Tony demanded.

"What's that?" Bucky questioned.

"Sugar. Why call me sugar? That some weird forties thing?"

"Oh, no… it's just that, _sugar is good for the soul_ , ya know?" he grinned, looking far too pleased with himself.

If Tony wasn't blushing before, he definitely was now.

"Yeah, well you and your love notes can go to Hell!" Tony exclaimed, speeding back toward the hall he entered from. Craning his head back, he added, "Next time say it to my face," and scurried away.

"Buck? What was all that about?" Steve questioned, a confused scowl ruffling his features.

"Mind your business, punk," Bucky replied, striding toward the hall intending to follow Tony.

He had _many_ things he was going to say to Tony's face.

**Author's Note:**

> Me, remembering the weeb days: "B-baka!" Tony yells before running off.
> 
> Haha ffs I'm dead ass dyin' rn. Don't ever write shit when ya half asleep fams. It's garbage 😂
> 
> My original plot for this was much more angsty, but somewhere along the line it ended up humorous. I blame the sleep deprivation for these shenanigans. 
> 
> \--- 
> 
> My original ending parts, which I had written first were:
> 
> "I don't need hand outs from you!" Tony hissed. 
> 
> "I wasn't tryin' to get into your 'good book', Tony...why do ya think I kept quiet? It's just...you don't take care of yourself very well...someone hasta." 
> 
> But this plot derailed on me, an' tbh, I like it much more with the humorous route ;)


End file.
